Island



(No Model.)

H. P. SAWYER.

AX HELVE WEDGE. No. 338,193. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

WITNESSES I INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Unitas r eras Parana @rrrcs.

AX-HELVE WEDGE.

0N forming part of Letters Patent 310,338,193, dated il Earch 16,1886.

Application lilcd October 17, 1885. Serial No. 180,164. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY F. SAWYER, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of R-hode Island, have invented anew and Improved AXl-Ielve \Vedge, of which the following is a full, clear, and'exact description.

My invention relates to wedges adapted for fastening the heads of axes, hammers, hatchets, adzes, or other tools to their helves or handles, and has for its object to provide a more reliable fastening for the tool heads than is afforded by wedges of other construction.

The invention consists in certain novel fea tures of construction of the wedge, all as here inafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an ax or hatchet with the helve held to its head by my improved wedge, which is shown in side clevation. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe wedge in modified form or with the lower ends of its two prongs connected. Fig. 3 is an end view of the wedge shown in. Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a central cross-sectional elevation of the wedge.

The letter A indicates the improved wedge, which is to be driven into the end of the helve or handle B after the ax, hatchet, adze, or other tool head 0 has been placed on the helve, and a screw, D, then is passed through a hole, a, in the head a of the wedge, and is screwed into the helve, all as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The head of the wedge is preferably large enough to lap upon the tool-head around its eye which receives the helve.

I make the wedge A with the two longitudinally-ranging wedge-like prongs E E, which are tapered flfitwise to a point, and which may be connected at their ends or points by the pointed cross-bar e, as shown in Fig. 2. The prongs E E are separated sufficiently at their inner edges to give space for the passage between them of the screw D. Each of the prongs E has formed upon its opposite sides or faces a tapering wedge-like rib, F.

At the under side or face of the wedge-head a, and at oppositesides of its aperture a, are formed the wedge-like lips a a", which will drive easily into the end of the ax-hclve. and will strengthen the head of the wedge A around the aperture a, so as to prevent breaking of the head by the force of the blows which drive it into the helve, and the lips a will be especially useful when the ends of the prongs E E are not connected by thetiebar 0.

It is evident that while the laterally-taper ing wedge-prongs E spread the end of the arr-helve sidewise to fill the eye of the ax or other tool head transversely of the eye, the longitudinally-tapering wedge-like ri'o F on the prongs E will spread the end of the are helve the other way or lengthwise of the eye of the tool to fill the eye lengthwise; hence the wedge has a splitting and wedgiug action on the helve both ways to cause the end of the helve to tightly fit the eye of the too] all around aLd make a much more secure fastening for the tool-head on the handle than would awedge acting only to spread the helve laterally in the eye, as it is obvious that when the helve does not snugly fit the ends of the eye the pressure or leverage commonly ap plied to the helve to release the ax or tool head when it sticks or binds in the out very quickly loosens the helve to such an extent as greatly to interfere with the effective use of the too].

When the screw D is removed, the wedge 'A may easily be pried from the end of the provided on its under face with two erucziform wedges having their long arms in alignl'orn wedges, the long arms of said wedges I ment, and the short lips on the head at op 10 extending in the direction of the length of posite sides of the adjacent ends of the said the head and connected at their adjacent; ends long arms, substantially as set; forth. 5 by the pointed tie-bar e, substantially as set HEY-RY F. SAVVYEB.

forth. I 3. A helm-Wedge consisting of the head a, l provided on its under face with two cruci- 'Witnesses:

R. F. GAPWELL, ALICE J. Eiis'rwoor. 

